Is Radio 4 alienating its core audience?

Figures published last week showed that The Archers lost 200,000 listeners between 2005 and 2006, a year in which its plotlines included Ruth Archer’s adultery and the “gay wedding” of farmer Adam Macy and chef Ian Craig.

In addition, Kirsty Young has lost listeners since taking over from Sue Lawley as the host of Desert Island Discs last October.

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This week, our radio critic Gillian Reynolds will be listening more intently than usual to Radio 4 – the BBC’s flagship news and speech station – and writing about what she hears in Saturday’s newspaper.

In the meantime, tell us – and Gillian – what you think. What, if anything, do you treasure about the station? And who or what of its output infuriates you?